Prime Minister Han Deok-su to Announce Medical School Quota Allocation Tomorrow
Maintains 2,000 Increase, Focused on Non-Capital Regions
Yoon Visits Hospital, Urges "Trust and Engage in Dialogue"
Medical Professors Warn of Mass Resignation on 25th
As collective protests by professors and students opposing the increase in medical school quotas continue, the government will announce the next year's admission quotas for 40 medical schools nationwide on the 20th. It appears that the government intends to accelerate the allocation process aimed at a '2,000-student increase.'
According to the Presidential Office on the 19th, the government will announce the quota allocation for each medical school along with a public address by Prime Minister Han Duck-soo on the 20th. It is reported that Prime Minister Han will explain the government's direction for medical reform, and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education Lee Ju-ho will explain the number of students allocated to each university and the basis for the allocation.
The government is maintaining the principle of a '2,000-student increase.' The allocation is planned to focus on universities in non-metropolitan areas. Previously, it was reported that the government is promoting a plan to distribute 20% of the increased medical school quotas to the metropolitan area and 80% to non-metropolitan areas. According to this plan, about 1,600 of the 2,000 additional quotas will be allocated to non-metropolitan areas.
The Ministry of Education has not disclosed the allocation procedures, which have been centered around the Medical School Quota Allocation Committee, but it appears that much of the allocation work has been completed. The government activated the allocation committee and held its first meeting on the 15th.
The day before, President Yoon Suk-yeol visited Seoul Asan Children's Hospital and held a meeting with medical staff, saying, "Due to political risks, previous governments have been unable to take on this task, and it has become too late," and urged, "Please trust the government and come to the dialogue." This was President Yoon's first hospital visit since announcing the medical reform policy in February.
As the government speeds up the medical school quota increase process, opposition from the medical community is intensifying. On the previous night, the Faculty Council of the Graduate School of Medicine at CHA University issued a statement demanding, "The government must take responsibility for the current medical service gap caused by the reckless policy implementation and apologize to the public," and warned, "If residents and medical students suffer damages, professors as their mentors will have no choice but to join collective action." On the same afternoon, the Emergency Response Committees of Seoul National University and Yonsei University medical schools held meetings and decided to submit their resignations en masse on the 25th.
On the same day, it was confirmed that the government issued the final 'license suspension' orders to executives of the Korean Medical Association's Emergency Response Committee. Park Myung-ha, Chair of the KMA Emergency Committee's Organizational Strengthening Committee, and Kim Taek-woo, Chair of the KMA Emergency Committee, were subject to administrative sanctions for violating the 'order prohibiting collective action' by doctors. Accordingly, their medical licenses will be suspended for three months starting from April 15.
Medical students' applications for leave of absence are also continuing. According to the Ministry of Education on the previous day, a survey conducted from the 15th to the 17th targeting 40 medical schools nationwide showed that the number of 'valid leave applications' was 777, with a cumulative total of 7,594. This corresponds to 40.4% of all medical students nationwide as of April last year. The Ministry of Education explained regarding the possibility of students repeating a year, "It is difficult to make a blanket statement as circumstances vary by school, but considering the 30-week standard (the legal requirement for securing the number of school days in one year), there still seems to be some leeway."
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